Obama Sends Message to Wall Street by Not Talking About Wall Street

Written by: Joe Deaux02/13/13 - 5:00 AM EST

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NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- That's right, Wall Street, the president of the United States ignored you.

President Barack Obama delivered lines Tuesday night in his State of the Union address about how the country has emerged from the rubble of economic crisis, his hope to allow families to more easily refinance their homes and the need for deficit reduction, among other economic issues.

"He made climate change the biggest possible job creator for the nation, never mentioned the boys of Wall Street and took out his election score card -- women, gays, immigrants -- and had a program or a promise that government could deliver to ensure a level playing field," said Arnie Arnesen, former New Hampshire Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

Obama intertwined climate change with his pitch for a reformed energy policy in the United States. The president didn't ignore the reality that grand change must acknowledge market-based solutions. It was a critical recognition by Obama, who suffered a thumping from Republicans in the 2012 election for his first-term backing of failed government-funded "green" initiatives such as Solyndra.

Obama mentioned the stock market once during the beginning of his speech, noting that major U.S. equity markets are rebounding. Tuesday's speech coincided with the Dow's highest close since Oct. 12, 2007, according to data compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Though the president's fresh energy pitch didn't lift many Republicans to their feet, there were a range of other issues that suggested a less divided Congress than during the past couple of years.

Topics about immigration, the need for entitlement reform and the continued success of counter-terrorism efforts offered American audiences the image of united lawmakers.

"I think that it is safe to say that the mood was much less worse than you've seen in a lot of his previous ones," said Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist at Prudential Fixed Income. "There was a less acrimonious environment, and probably more times when you saw people on both sides of the aisle clapping at the same time. I'd like to think that suggests a slightly more productive tone."

Obama told one example of a warehouse in Youngstown, Ohio -- a manufacturing town that helped his re-election bid -- that had once been shuttered but has since been converted into a "state-of-the-art" 3D printing lab.

But with the impending struggle over the sequester and tension among Democrats and Republicans on gun reform, there were enough moments in Obama's State of the Union address that his opponents see him as a president bent on a liberal policy agenda.